How to pause your mortgage payments if you are affected by the coronavirus

You can pause your mortgage payments without penalty for up to 12 months if you have incurred a job loss, income reduction, sickness or other issue impacted by the coronavirus.

First, you need to find out who “owns” your loan. The mortgage servicer collects your payments each month, however, the actual loan may be have been purchased by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or other mortgage investor.

Your loan may be insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or the USDA Rural Housing Services. These agencies “insure” your loan, but the loan might still be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

If either agency purchased your loan, you will receive instructions to contact your mortgage servicing company. If you are unable to determine who owns your loan, immediately contact your mortgage servicer.